PGA Tour via ferry, Korn Ferry

This used to be one of my favorite times of year thinking about golf dreamers...the Q-schoolers.  Write a check, make it through 3-stages, sometimes competing against current Tour players who need to keep their Tour card, and you might find yourself playing your way onto the PGA Tour.

But all that changed back in 2013...they eliminated the PGA Tour Q-school and instead used the "developmental Tour" (which has has many names over the years, currently the Korn Ferry Tour), to determine the next batch of players who would advance to the the big dance.  

So I got all excited!  Now I can follow another Q-school!  Go dreamers!  But, alas, my dreams were crushed when I found out that this year's Korn Ferry Tour has been carried over into 2021 due to the Covid-19 tournament cancelling and shuffling of dates.  So no new players joining the PGA Tour and no new fresh faces joining the Korn Ferry Tour either.

So instead, I decided to delve into the Korn Ferry Tour a little and see what I could learn.  First, I'm going to be honest, I thought Korn Ferry might be an agricultural company...but I wasn't even close!  Korn Ferry is an "organizational consulting" firm that helps businesses all over the world, including the PGA Tour.  They do have a link to their connection to the PGA Tour here.  

Pgatour.com's Adam Stanley gives a good summary of what to expect in 2021 for players working their way to the PGA Tour (The 25).

I next went to the 2020 money list to see the players who competed this last year.  Most of the names were not familiar to me, but there were a few that caught my eye.  I'll have to read more to learn why some players enter only a few events and others are seemingly in all of them.  Noticed that Luke List, played 1 event, and won it!  And, only made $133K.  What a stark contrast to the PGA Tour.

So events "re-start" in February 2021 and will culminate in August where the next 25 players who advance to the PGA Tour will be announced.  Feeling like I'm going to need to learn a little more about these players to get prepped to cheer on some dreamers.

I'm still sad about no Q-school, but it's good to know there is still a way to make golf dreams come true, even it it is by ferry, Korn Ferry that is. 
​